A little update with a spaniel

I've had a pretty busy summer and blog got a bit neglected (as well as my social life) so let's rectify it asap!

The latest news is that we have also moved in to our new office space in Edinburgh's former veterinary college turned artists studios and space aka The Summerhall. It is so nice not to have to create a mess at home any more but to come to a specially allocated space for that work frame of mind. Unfortunately it also means that we are seldom at home and when we are finally back after 10 or more hours in the office (freelancing, ha!) all we can do is to cook a simple supper, have a bath and plunge straight into bed to be able to start all over again the next day!

There are several private commissions that I need to update you with and I look forward to hear from you before the Christmas time if you would like to treat your friends or family with an original gift!

Here is a golden background black spaniel painting that I created for one delighted dog owner:

Mouse

I have never illustrated anything for children before so when I decided to do this little painting for a private client, I was a bit out of my depth, especially that it was all hand painted with water based temperas (Plakkaatverf Gouaches from Talens are my favourite but difficult to obtain in Scotland so I am cherishing my old box full of these jars!) not to mention the subject matter.

I am really enjoying the responsibility that this kind of painting involves, I like that almost meditative process and inability of ctrl+Z, it really sends tingles down my spine when I am working on these little paintings (and yes, there are several others still to come!).

So the mouse has a new home now and has been even christened Jerry!

I can see a theme here...

Long time no see dear friends but I start to emerge again, armed in my brand new computer and a bit of free time so let's see what was happening during the last several months!

I have travelled a bit again and I took part in two exhibitions - a first one in Edinburgh was a group one and another one, couple of weeks later was a solo one in Krakow. I've had lots of cakes and therefore had to do a bit of running (and I cannot run very intensively unfortunately) to burn it all off.

Anyway, I try not to post images of food on my Instagram as there are many more exciting things to photograph! Like dogs in the windows or beautiful illustrations by one of my favourite Scottish illustrators Bob Devar on the ceiling of the Scottish Whisky Society in Leith. Though I think that the images of tasty things dominated the scene:

In the blazing sunshine

Wow! I would have never thought I would be writing these words while in Scotland but my, oh my, it is really hot here this week! We are living with our windows wide open and enjoying laying on the grass in the park and working in a blazing sunshine! The red, juicy strawberries and barbacues are all over the place and one has to slather a lot of sunscreen so that to survive whitout lobster's limbs.

Therefore my latest commission was spot on with the timing, with lots of swimming suit cladded gals, sunshine and hot summer dresses in the brief. It is not all about the sea and the Sun though, there are some serious issues in the article that the drawings are illustrating but it is better to be safe than sorry. So do not stay in the sun too much, reapply your sunscreen, hydrate and enjoy your summer while it lasts! I am off to a barbacue now!